I started taking it for pain but since I have suffered from crippling anxiety all my life and finding that this drug actually lets me have a life, I started taking it a couple or 3 times a week. Lately I am noticing that it's not affecting me as when I first started and I am worried my body will build tolerance and hence having to increase the dose which I don't really want to do.
I would appreciate any suggestion you could give me
Pregabalin - I have been taking Lyrica for 3 yrs?
Question posted by mary4ever on 4 Dec 2018
Last updated on 5 December 2018 by cindy-59
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Answers
Hi mary4ever. I was prescribed Lyrica for chronic pain for 7-8 years. What usually happens with Lyrica (and medications like it) is your doctor has to keep upping the dosage because it stops working. Then you get to the maximum dose and it stops working so you decide you don’t want to take it anymore. Well you can’t just stop taking it. You have to taper off slowly or you could experience The Discontinuation Syndrome. The many side effects from Lyrica were horrible for me (like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts) that I ended up slowly tapering off and it was so hard. There is a group on Facebook with thousands of people who are trying to taper off Lyrica because of the side effects and/or they hit the maximum dose and it stopped working. Lyrica is not a medication that is for 2 or 3 times a week. You need to take it every day. The days you don’t take it you can go through ‘withdrawals’. I am not a doctor. This is my experience. I’m sure there will be others. Take care and I wish you the best. Cindy
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lyrica, anxiety, pain, generalized anxiety disorder, pregabalin, drug
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